Lifting insert void extractor

ABSTRACT

A lifting insert void extractor assists a standing worker to remove voids from a concrete panel. The present invention has a rectangular base with a lip through which passes a plunger. Parallel to the plunger, two jaws engage and grasp a void. The shorter leg of a jaw inserts into a void and the longer leg of a jaw extends to a handle. A worker grasps the handles, positions the shorter legs of the jaws into a void, moves the handles mutually inwards, steps on the plunger and pulls up on the handles to remove the void from the tilt up panel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/625,206, filed Nov. 5, 2004 and commonly owned by the same inventors. The above noted application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The lifting insert void extractor relates to tilt up concrete panel construction in general and more specifically to removing the plastic device that forms voids for lifting hooks. A unique aspect of the present invention is allowing a worker to remove a lifting void while standing upright.

As construction projects face close schedules and tighter budgets, contractors have turned to tilt up concrete panels for nonresidential buildings and facilities. Tilt up construction involves designing and fabricating building walls from concrete panels. The concrete panels may or may not be structural support for a building. In the design phase, engineers and technicians design the concrete mix and reinforcing steel pattern to withstand the loads applied to panel. The loads include dead load, wind load, snow load, and also deflection criteria. Local and national building codes specify those loads and criteria. As part of the dead load, the panel design includes steel parts, or inserts, for lifting of the panels once fabricated. The steel parts permit a lifting device, or crane, to grasp a panel.

At the construction site, contractors follow the plans to form a panel of the appropriate dimensions and to emplace reinforcing steel in the appropriate pattern within the forms. The contractors then place concrete within the forms to fabricate a tilt up panel. Alternatively, tilt up panels can be fabricated in a yard and then trucked to a construction site. During fabrication, plastic voids are placed around the inserts. Once the concrete sets and cures for a few days, workers remove the voids to expose the inserts. With the inserts free of concrete, a crane grasps the inserts to lift and to maneuver the panels.

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art. That is, the art of the present invention, a lifting insert void extractor, provides a tool to remove lifting voids from concrete panels while a worker stands.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

The difficulty in providing a lifting insert void extractor is shown by the present method of removing voids near the steel parts, or lifting inserts. Once the concrete has cured, construction schedules call for emplacing the panels promptly. To lift a panel, workers have to remove the plastic voids from the vicinity of the lifting inserts. Presently, workers using claw hammers pound the voids into pieces and then remove them from the lifting inserts. Workers perform this chore usually in a kneeling position. In time, workers tire of hammering and productivity declines while the risk of injury rises. The present invention allows a worker to remove plastic voids while standing and without hammering.

Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved lifting insert void extractor.

Another object is to provide such a void extractor that is readily operated by a standing worker.

A further object is to provide such a void extractor that grasps both ends of a void and spans over an insert.

A still further object is to provide such a void extractor that is readily marketed and manufactured to workers, contractors, and industrial supply houses.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The lifting insert void extractor serves as a tool for standing workers to remove plastic voids from lifting inserts. The present invention has a base, generally rectangular with a front lip. Upon the front lip, a spring biased plunger passes through the lip and to the ground beneath the base. Parallel to the plunger two jaws engage and grasp a void. The jaws have an L shape symmetrically arranged about the plunger. The legs of the jaws have a generally thin cross section less than one inch in width, typically formed of welded bar stock. The shorter leg of a jaw inserts into a void and the longer leg of a jaw extends outward from the base. A handle attaches to the longer leg opposite the vertex of the jaw. The vertex of the jaw bolts to the lip but permits the jaw to rotate.

In use, a worker grasps the handles of the tool and positions the shorter legs of the jaws into a plastic void. The worker moves the handles mutually inwards or towards each other thus rotating the shorter legs of the jaws outward to grasp the plastic void. The worker then steps on the plunger and pulls up on the handles to remove the void from the tilt up panel. The worker repeats these steps with the voids of each panel.

By using the lifting insert void extractor upon tilt up panels, a contractor can rapidly remove the plastic voids from the panels. Contractors save on labor costs and shorten project schedules while workers lessen the risk of injury and tedium of hammering out voids.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a tilt up panel with voids in preparation for the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of a void installed within a tilt up panel;

FIG. 3 describes a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 has a top view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and,

FIG. 5 illustrates the present invention in use.

The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention overcomes the prior art limitations by providing a hand held tool that grasps and removes plastic voids from tilt up concrete panels. Turning to FIG. 1, a typical tilt up concrete panel 4 has a rectangular shape that later becomes a portion of a wall when erected. Towards one edge, the top when erected, a panel 4 has one or more lifting inserts 3. The lifting inserts 3 are steel parts connected to the reinforcing steel of the panel 4. Upon the upper left of FIG. 1, the panel 4 has a void 2 emplaced to displace concrete away from a lifting insert. Upon the upper right of FIG. 1, the panel 4 has a lifting insert 3 and the space behind the insert when a void is removed. This lifting insert 3 can now receive rigging from a crane to erect the panel 4.

Looking more closely in FIG. 2, a contractor prepares lifting inserts 3 well before rigging a crane to the panel 4. Lifting inserts 3 connect with the reinforcing steel and a plastic void 2 protects the insert during placement of concrete for making a panel 4. The plastic void 2 remains in the concrete during and after curing of the panel 4 as shown in FIG. 2.

After a panel 4 has cured, a contractor has to remove the plastic voids 2 from the lifting inserts 3. FIG. 3 shows the lifting insert void extractor 1 to meet a contractor's need to remove voids thus exposing inserts for rigging to a crane. The present invention 1 has a rectangular and planar base 5 of steel plate. The steel plate has a front edge 6 a and an opposite rear edge 6 b. Upon the front edge 6 a, the plate has a lip 7. In the preferred embodiment, the lip 7 is angle iron of greater length than the width of the base 5. One leg of the angle iron welds to the base 5 and the other leg depends beneath the base 5 and away from the front edge 6. Arranged symmetrically upon the lip 7, the present invention has two pivots 9 d. The pivots 9 d connect two jaws 9 to the lip 7.

Each jaw 9 has a generally L shape, made of plate steel. The jaw 9 has a short leg 9 a and a long leg 9 b perpendicular to the short leg 9 a at the end of the short leg 9 a. At the vertex 9 c of the short leg 9 a and the long leg 9 b, each jaw 9 rotates upon a pivot 9 d. The jaws 9 are arranged symmetrically with the short legs 9 a upon the interior of the lip 7 and the long legs 9 b extending outwards generally horizontally. Upon the end of each long leg 9 b opposite the pivots 9 d, a handle 10 joins to each long leg 9 b by welding or alternatively a bolted connection. The handle 10 extends upright and generally parallel to the short legs 9 a of the jaws 9. The handles 10 have a length suitable for grasping by a worker while standing.

Centered between the handles 10 and upon the base 5, the present invention has a plunger 8. The plunger 8 has a cylinder 8 a, with two ends 8 b 8 c, that passes through the base 5. The cylinder is generally at least as long as twice the depth of a void. Upon the first end 8 b, the plunger 8 has a point and upon the opposite end 8 c the plunger 8 has an attached pedal 11. In the preferred embodiment, the pedal 11 has a diameter greater than the cylinder 8 a and suitable for a worker's boot, approximately four inches. In an alternate embodiment, the pedal 11 has a rectangular shape also suitable for a boot. A spring 12 encircles the cylinder and extends between the pedal 11 and the base 5. The spring provides an expansive force upon the underside of the pedal to return the pedal and cylinder above the base when a worker lifts the present invention. The spring removes the first end of the cylinder from a void as the worker moves to the next void for removal.

Viewed as seen by a worker, or a top view, in FIG. 4, the present invention has a rectangular base 5 with a lip 7 attached to the front edge 6 a. The plunger 8 is generally centered upon the present invention and proximate to the lip 7 with the pedal 11 between the pivots 9 d. The long legs 9 b of each jaw 9 extend from the pivots 9 d outwards and symmetrically. At each end of the long legs 9 b opposite the pivots 9 d, a handle 10 joins to each jaw 9. The handle 10 has a generally round cross section for grasping by a worker while standing.

Augmenting FIG. 3, FIG. 5 describes the present invention in use. After a panel 4 has cured, a contractor removes the voids 2 and exposes the lifting inserts 3 for connection to a crane. A worker brings the present invention to a void 2 and firmly emplaces the short legs 9 a of the jaws 9 into each half of a void 2. The worker grasps the handles 10 and moves them both inward towards the pivots 9 d. In that movement, the handles 10 move the long legs 9 b upwards which engage the pivots 9 d and move the short legs 9 a outwards to grasp a void 2. With the void 2 grasped, a worker steps upon the pedal 11 and lifts the handles 10 thus extracting a void 2 from a panel 4. The worker repeats these steps for each void 2 in a panel 4 and all of the panels 4 at a construction project.

From the aforementioned description, a lifting insert void extractor has been described. The lifting insert void extractor is uniquely capable of grasping a void with a worker standing upright upon a tilt up concrete panel. A worker readily moves from void to void while using the present invention. The lifting insert void extractor and its various components may be constructed of many materials, including but not limited to, steel, polymers, high density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, nylon, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and their alloys, and composites. 

1. A device to remove voids from lifting inserts in concrete panels, comprising: a base having a generally planar shape and at least one longitudinal edge; a plunger generally centered upon said longitudinal edge and passing through said base; two jaws pivotally connecting to said base having an axis of rotation parallel to the plane of said base; and, two handles, each of said handles attached to one of said jaws outwardly from said plunger and extending generally perpendicular to said base; whereby, a worker emplaces said jaws into a void, moves said handles to engage said jaws upon the void, depresses said plunger, and lifts said handles to remove the void.
 2. The void removing device of claim 1 further comprising: each of said jaws having two legs joined at a vertex; and, each vertex comprising a pivot allowing said jaw to rotate in a plane perpendicular to said base.
 3. The void removing device of claim 2 further comprising: each of said jaws having a generally L shape with a short leg and a perpendicular long leg, said short leg and said long leg joining at said vertex.
 4. The void removing device of claim 1 further comprising: said plunger having a cylinder with a first end and an opposite second end, said second end having a pedal oriented perpendicular to said cylinder, and a spring surrounding said cylinder and locating between said pedal and said base; and, said plunger locating inwards of said jaws towards the center of said base while remaining proximate to said longitudinal edge of said base.
 5. The void removing device of claim 1 further comprising: a lip having a generally L shaped cross section with two legs, one of said legs joined coplanar with said base, and the other leg depending beneath said base and away from said base.
 6. The void removing device of claim 5 further comprising: said lip joining to said base upon said longitudinal edge.
 7. The void removing device of claim 1 wherein said base is rectangular in shape.
 8. A device to remove voids from lifting inserts in concrete panels, comprising: a base having a generally planar shape and at least one longitudinal edge; a plunger generally centered upon said longitudinal edge and passing through said base, having a cylinder with a first end and an opposite second end, a pedal oriented perpendicular to said cylinder locating upon said second end, a spring surrounding said cylinder and locating between said pedal and said longitudinal edge, and locating inwards of said jaws towards the center of said base while remaining proximate to said longitudinal edge of said base; a lip having a generally L shaped cross section with two legs, one of said legs joined coplanar with said base, and the other leg depending beneath said base and away from said base; two jaws pivotally connecting to said base having an axis of rotation parallel to the plane of said base and through said lip, each of said jaws having a generally L shape with a short leg and a perpendicular long leg, said short leg and said long leg joining at a vertex generally centered upon the depending leg of said lip; and, two handles, each of said handles attached to one of said jaws outwardly from said vertex upon said long leg and extending generally perpendicular to said base; whereby, a worker emplaces said jaws into a void, moves said handles to engage said jaws upon the void, depresses said plunger, and lifts said handles to remove the void. 